I failed out of school 30 years ago.

Sometimes events in your life are so powerful that the locations where they occurred take on special meaning. This is one of them for me.

During the first few years of college my eyesight was progressively worsening to the point I became legally blind. Unbeknownst to me it was a result of an undiagnosed degenerative eye disease called Keratoconus. I failed out of college after my third year at The Ohio State University and, after a year, was readmitted only to drop out that same semester.

Two corneal transplants and several eye surgeries later I finally graduated from college (after almost a decade spent as an undergraduate) and went on to complete my Masters and PhD because I surrounded myself with incredible, caring, inspiring people who supported me on my journey no matter how circuitous or crazy it seemed.

Today, Christina and I revisited the site where I called my parents from a pay phone to tell them I had officially failed out of Ohio State minutes after I left my academic hearing. She urged me to film a quick video while we were there - and, I am so glad she did.

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/924721165

WATCH NOW